Self-Spreading Vaccine Research Could Spin Out of Control, Experts Warn

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Vaccines that spread like a disease could prevent the next pandemic, but the associated challenges and risks are enormous, according to scientists.

By leveraging the spreading power of viruses, scientists could create biological agents that proliferate quickly through a target population, with the viruses performing specific tasks, such as delivering vaccines or sterilizing invasive species. In the late 1980s, Australian researchers dabbled with lab-modified, contagious viruses, using multiple approaches to exterminate foxes, mice, and rabbits, according to the paper.

Lentzos, Reeves, and colleagues say it’s time to pump the brakes and consider the consequences of this research and all the moving parts needed to make such a thing work. It’s not immediately clear, they argue, that self-disseminating viruses can be contained or removed from an environment once released, or who would be responsible for the biocontrol agent, should the virus behave unexpectedly or cross national boundaries.

 

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